The
Vampire Lestat is a novel by Anne Rice, the second in her Vampire
Chronicles, following Interview with the Vampire. It depicts vampires
living in the open as mortals. Disguised as mummers [actors], they
live and perform in a Theatre ( the Théâtre des Vampires)
owned by the "Brat Prince" of the vampires, the dazzling Lestat de
Lioncourt.

The
morality play in this and other books in the Anne Rice vampire chronicles
has been described as "dark, gothic, deviantly erotic, and preternatural"
where "immortal understudies in the theater of humanity [play] their
parts in a tableau devoid of script, where morality is self-determined,
and where it is better to be the hunter than the prey."[1]

Social
issues often raised by Rice in her long running series focused on
the nature of good and evil, God and the devil, and "the fog of uncertainty
that human beings generate around ground-facts that tend to alter
their meaning and contents".[2]

In
2003, after 25 books in 25 years, Rice suddenly stopped writing when
her "Blood Chronicle" was released, bringing to an end the best selling
series of vampire novels. Following several illnesses in which she
nearly died, Anne returned to church after 45 years of non-attendance,
and grew silent. When friends began emailing her, asking if she was
okay and whether she would write again, she told them, "You may not
want what I'm doing next." They soon found out what she was up to.
Newsweek Magazine reported in October, 2005, that "Anne Rice, the
chronicler of vampires, witches and—under the pseudonym A. N. Roquelaure—of
soft-core S&M encounters," would publish 'Christ the Lord: Out of
Egypt,' a novel about the 7-year-old Jesus, narrated by Christ himself.

"I
promised," Anne told Newsweek, "that from now on I would write only
for the Lord." Anne's acceptance of Christ as Savior was considered
the most startling public turnaround since Bob Dylan's "Slow Train
Coming" announced that he'd been born again.[3]

The
Newsweek article about Anne Rice was appropriately called, The Gospel
According to Anne.

Appropriate
because, in my opinion, Anne was, all along, closer to understanding
the New Testament teachings of Jesus than are many of the so-called
leaders of Christianity today.

For
those who think I'm being judgmental, you are right. 1 Peter 4:17
says "judgment must begin at the house of God." People who care about
the institution of Christianity should consider that a time of introspection
and judgment is overdue.

Irony
so thick I could drive a stake into its heart

With
humility, I believe I am qualified to say some things about the spirit
that is increasingly passing itself off as "church leadership". For
nearly 30 years, I held senior pastorates and executive positions
in the largest evangelical institution in the world. During that time
I spoke to hundreds of thousands of people from pulpits around the
globe, both electronic and local. For several of those years I also
worked in exorcism, which led to a certain appreciation for subtleties
in morality plays like those in Anne Rice's books. Yet now I find
an irony so thick I could drive a stake into its heart. While Anne
Rice, the "evangelist of vampires" has discovered Jesus, many of those
who occupy America's places of religious power and pretend to be the
Lord's evangelists have become vampiric wordsmiths clothed in capes
and rituals, hiding the need to maintain their existence by consuming
the life-force of innocent living creatures, disguising themselves
as mortals as they feed on people's faith, using and then disregarding
innocent lives to maintain their Théâtre des Vampires.

I
suppose when most people think of actual demonic manifestations, they
recall images such as Linda Blair slithering snake-like along the
floor in the movie The Exorcist. To be honest, during the few experiences
I had with exorcism, superhuman strength similar to that fictionalized
in popular films and vampire lore was manifest only once. The greatest
encounters I had with evil supernaturalism by far ( and which I may
document when the time is right), which was confronted on more than
one occasion by myself, my staff, and my family, was a "spirit of
religion" that wielded significant influence among church-institution
leaders whose thirst for power has become Luciferian.

Such
spirits are identified in the Bible and in the actions of those who
are possessed by them. They are megalomaniacs who seek to exalt their
throne while taking particular delight in enforcing private rules
by which they judge the righteousness of others. They compass the
world to make one disciple, "then make it twofold more a child of
hell" than they are themselves" (Matthew 23:15). These incredibly
deceptive mummers seek institutional positions where they can nourish
Christ-less attitudes among church leadership, teaching their hosts
how, as actors, they must suppress their true personality while emulating
sincerity so that their victims will accept as real the "character"
they portray.

Mastering
dialectics thus becomes very important for the mummers to succeed.
They must also develop good vocal projection for the stage, physical
expressiveness, improvisation, emotional drama and even be capable
of reciting classical texts or scripture when necessary. Well-rounded
mummers will even learn singing and other performing arts, so that
their false-anointing will appeal to human weaknesses and convince
us that they are genuine. Most of all, they need for their words to
resonate as believable in order to keep their innocent victims mesmerized,
at least until their life-force can be completely drained from them.

Of
course the biggest problem for such vampires is the true power of
the Cross, and how if they are not careful it will scorch away their
cover and reveal the apathy they have for their victims.

SON-light
is another problem. Vampires perish if exposed for very long to anything
but synthetic illumination.

And
of course there are sanctified places where vampires can never go,
such as the deepest recesses of a true believer's soul. The greatest
vampire killer of all time once said, "Do not fear those who kill
the body but cannot kill the soul" (Matthew 10:28).

I
thought of those words recently, during the passing of a dear friend.
To protect her identity, I will simply call her Nettie (not her real
name).

Christians
and vampire slayers

Like
so many true Christians, Nettie had given her life to the ministry
of others. As a result, she had very few earthly possessions and certainly
nothing to compare with the wealth that is typical of Lestat-like
vampires.

However,
Nettie did own a home. The appraised value was a mere $35,000, so
it is easy to see the modesty of her lifestyle in today's United States.

Still,
the place was hers.

Early
last year, knowing she was getting too old to live alone anymore and
that ultimately she would need to be cared for by her daughter, Nettie
made a deal to sell her house to the religious institution we both
had worked for. Nettie had served tirelessly and without pay for the
organization for several decades. As executive director of a particular
board, I was familiar with the district office's interest in acquiring
land, and I was there when several properties, including Nettie's,
were approved for purchase. Though Nettie's was the least expensive,
the other properties were owned by younger, healthier persons, not
nearly as easy to victimize as Nettie, and so these were paid off
immediately and closed escrow post haste. Nettie on the other hand
waited, and deteriorated, until her body and mind slowly began giving
in to the last enemy she faced -- death. As the end drew near and
she needed money for medical expenses, she asked my wife to check
in with the Christian organization's state office to see when she
would be paid.

"Well,
since Nettie is going to die before long," the secretary for the coven's
head vampire stammered, "We've decided just to wait, since we'll inherit
the property anyway once she's gone."

My
wife was in shock. Yet unlike her, I'd been inside the vaults and
among the vampires long enough to understand how mummers think. We
both cried a few months later when Nettie, still hoping for some crumbs
to fall from the rich man's table, had a stroke and died not very
long afterward.

For
me it was the last straw. After almost 30 years in the theatre I decided
I would be better off not treading the rafters anymore. I had made
some great friends and there are still some vampire hunters in the
organization I respect, but the glory days are waning and the theatre's
headquarters have become too infested with spider webs, moths, bats
and other creepy things.

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Yet
I would leave a warning behind for vampires everywhere. For those
who would sell their soul to the Devil for $35,000 worth of real estate,
you've done all that you can do to hurt the old woman who will rise
up in judgment against you in the day that matters most.

Of
course, I suppose until then you could wring the blood out of the
money and use it to purchase some really cool new capes or a row of
dazzling lights to keep your audience spellbound.

Over the last decade, he has authored three books,
wrote dozens of published editorials, and had several feature magazine
articles. In addition to past articles
at NewsWithViews.com , his works have been referred to by writers of the
LA Times Syndicate, MSNBC, Christianity Today, Coast to Coast, World Net
Daily, White House Correspondents and dozens of newsmagazines and press
agencies around the globe. Tom's latest book is "The Ahriman Gate," which
fictionalizes the use of biotechnology to resurrect Biblical Nephilim.

Thomas is also a well known radio personality
who has guest-hosted and appeared on dozens of radio and television shows
over the last 30 years, including "The 700 Club" and "Coast to Coast AM."
When looking for a spokesperson to promote their film "Deceived" staring
Louis Gossett Jr. and Judd Nelson, "Cloud 10 Pictures" selected Thomas
as their spokesperson to explain the Christian viewpoint on UFO-related
demonology.

The
Newsweek article about Anne Rice was appropriately called, The Gospel
According to Anne. Appropriate because, in my opinion, Anne was, all along,
closer to understanding the New Testament teachings of Jesus than are
many of the so-called leaders of Christianity today.